Hurricane Beryl as seen from space early on July 2, 2024. NOAA / NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

Hurricane Beryl strengthened to scale-topping Category 5 status late Monday after it ripped doors, windows and roofs off homes across the southeastern Caribbean with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantic's record warmth and was still a Cat 5 early Monday as it started to put Jamaica in its sights, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Beryl could bring "life-threatening winds and storm surge" to the island, the center stressed.

Beryl's center is expected to move quickly across the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea Tuesday and is forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday, the center said.

"Weakening should begin later today, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday. Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean," the center added.

Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as the earliest Category 4 storm in the Atlantic, then late in the day the center said its winds had increased to Category 5 strength, meaning it had winds of 157 mph or higher.

Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and is only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said one person had died and he couldn't yet say if there were other fatalities because authorities hadn't been able to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where there were initial reports of major damage but communications were largely down.

Mitchel added that the government will send people first thing Tuesday morning to evaluate the situation on the islands.

Streets from St. Lucia island south to Grenada were strewn with shoes, trees, downed power lines and other debris. Banana trees were snapped in half and cows lay dead in green pastures with homes made of tin and plywood tilting precariously nearby.

As of 5 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Beryl was about 370 miles southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and 695 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It was moving west-northwest at 22 mph. A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch was posted for the Cayman Islands. A tropical storm warning was in place for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque westward to the border with Haiti and the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d'Hainault.

"Remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions and do not venture out in the eye of the storm," the hurricane center warned people in the storm's path.

"Historic" hurricane
It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

Beryl became the third Category 3 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic in June, following Audrey in 1957 and Alma in 1966, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said.

"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," he told the Associated Press in a phone interview. "Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn't struck yet."

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strongest hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm.

"So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat," Lowry said of Beryl.

Beryl is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Last week, Tropical Storm Alberto brought torrential flooding to portions of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. It was responsible for at least four deaths in the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon and Veracruz.

According to CBS News weather producer David Parkinson, Beryl is the farthest east a hurricane has formed in June, and one of only two to do so east of the Caribbean, with the other instance occurring in 1933. Parkinson expects Beryl to remain south of Jamaica, and forecasts that any U.S. impacts are still at least eight days away.

Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher.

Forecasters warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 9 feet in areas where Beryl will make landfall, with up to 6 inches of rain for Barbados and nearby islands.


Strong winds blow as Hurricane Beryl approaches Bridgetown, Barbados on July 1, 2024. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES